by The US version of X Factor will be now be screened with subtitles so that its American viewers may have some hope of understanding the Geordie accent of Cheryl Cole.
Producer Simon Cowell confirmed that the Girls Aloud star will join him on the judging panel for the upcoming series of the show but has taken the unusual step of displaying captions containing a rough translation of Cole’s words.
“Most Americans find it difficult to understand British accents that don’t fall within the range of Hugh Grant and Richard E. Grant,” Cowell explained. “So subtitles for Cheryl is our only option.”
“I did think of bringing in an actress to provide a voice that she could mime to, and obviously everyone knows Cheryl is more than comfortable with that.”
“But we soon realised that wouldn’t have been cost effective and unfortunately I just don’t have the money for that in these tough financial times.”
Pronunciation
Many Americans are pleased about the use of subtitles for the star who they believe is unable to pronounce her own name correctly.
“When I first heard her talking about Cheryl Curl, I thought it was it was a new hairstyle like the Jerry Curl that Lionel Richie had.” X Factor fan, Chad Weston admitted.
“But then I realised it was just her accent and that the poor girl can’t even say her own name right.”
“So I’m glad they’ll be using subtitles for her because I only just got to grips with Jackie Chan’s accent after twenty God damn years,” Mr Weston continued.
“And unlike her, Jackie’s from Hong Kong where English is the first language.”
